The high-density storefront rezoning along Colfax Avenue in the center of Denver is coming to the west side of town.
The City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on placing Colfax under the so-called Main Street zoning from Irving Street to Sheridan Boulevard.
Main Street zoning drew attention last year as the first example of an attempt to rezone the city based on the desired form and feel of an area.
The stretch of Colfax from approximately the Capitol to Colorado Boulevard was transferred to Main Street zoning last year in hopes that as the area develops, storefront windows – not parking lots – will line the strip.
Planning director Peter Park and the city are looking to expand the effort along the Colfax corridor from one side of the city to the other. It is part of an emphasis – along with Sunday’s Colfax Marathon – that Denver has placed on revitalizing the area, currently lined with fast-food chains and used-car lots as much as coffee shops and boutiques.
“They’ve got some real prime sites for it over there,” Councilwoman Jeanne Robb said, referring to the west side of Colfax.
Robb and former Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth spent two years pushing for Main Street zoning in the center of town. The plan has been well-received.
“I think there will be support clearly because of that,” said Councilman Rick Garcia, who represents northwest Denver.
Garcia said the new zoning fits well with plans to redevelop the St. Anthony Central Hospital campus when the hospital moves to Lakewood.
“I think it’s a hand-in-glove kind of relationship,” he said. “What we are really proposing with Main Street zoning is higher density and more commercial mixed-use development, where the St. Anthony’s site would be primarily residential.”
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
